Hyphen

Maria Servellon

Hyphen

Maria Servellon

Drama,
Fantasy

Short

Boston

Hyphen (working title) is a magic realist short film based on the director's own memories and experiences presented as four character versions on a transformative chronicle. They each learn to use imaginative forms of art, music, and dance to realize their dreams, fears, and achievements.

Hyphen (working title) is a magic realist short film based on the director's own memories and experiences presented as four character versions on a transformative chronicle. They each learn to use imaginative forms of art, music, and dance to realize their dreams, fears, and achievements.

141 supporters

193 followers

Green Light

RAISED $11,000

for PRODUCTION

141 supporters, 193 followers

Inclusion Statement

Hyphen was written to be directed, produced, and acted from the unique US Latina experience. The majority of the talented cast and crew are people of color and/or female. With 4.9% of films starring Latina protagonists and only 1% directed by Latinas, our film aims to break down large barriers.

About The Project

If you remove the hyphens, the checkboxes, the stereotypes, and the expectations,who areyou?

Summary

Hyphen (working title) is a magic realist, short fiction film based on the director's own memories and experiences. It follows four character versions on a transformative chronicle: Mimi, Maia, Mia, Ria. They each learn to use imaginative forms of art, music, and dance to realize their dreams, fears, and achievements. Conjuring the impalpable power of creativity, they are able to overcome different challenges to create their own identities past cultural and gender expectations.

Introduction

Hyphen will be the next and biggest, but certainly not the last, of many personal and experimental multimedia versions I've created throughout my art/film career. From documenting my everyday life in high school with my first camera, creating a "that was then, this is now" video assignment as a new college art major, to finishing college with a video/animation about my definition of change, and later creating a video installation about remixing oneself in grad school. Version #5 takes a fiction narrative spin that will be the most personal, but also most exciting to share with even more audiences.

The FilmmakerI am a visual explorer and storyteller who uses film, photography, design, music, and dance to express stories, theories, and truths. Since a young age, I’ve always created characters, movement, scenarios, and visual concepts to satisfy my curiosity about the world and help me understand my relationship with it.

My work is a conscious and intuitive exploration of an intersectional self-identity using different visual, musical, and historical influences. Using memories, dreams, and fantasy, I pay homage to many culturally fluid inspirations and ideologies that I feel strong connections to. My artmaking odyssey aims to continue transcending pre-established norms and to reincarnate itself between different multimedia forms. These culminations solidify the bridge of mutual understanding and connection between myself and audiences.

Growing up, I didn't see enough first-generation kids that had a family that looked like mine, high school kids with racial identity issues, young interracial couples dealing with typical growing up issues, or even young women coping with more realistic anxiety in movies & TV. Seeing these issues and characters onscreen are crucial to me and others.

The StatsCurrently, half of the US population is female, with 16% of that being Latinas. 29% of films have female protagonists, with only 4.9% as Latinas. Women make up 9% of directors, but Latina directors remain at 1%. If we don't tell these stories, do they even exist?

Thus, for my Emerson College MFA thesis project, I've decided to just make the film I wanted to see years ago and that others want to see as well.

Conclusion

Though this film is my own story about being a female/US Latina/first-generation/Boston/artist, Hyphen is ultimately about the human condition each character goes through to break from, well, any hyphen or label. Maybe you'll relate if you've ever had parents sacrifice their happiness for you, felt a growing invisible rift between you and your partner, unsure of your place in the world, or ever been in absolute awe hiking to the highest peak you've ever climbed by yourself. I hope audiences will take something from the multi-layered Hyphen.

My crew, cast, and I are READY to go on this journey together. We hope YOU will also be part of this! Thank you again for your continued support.

Current Team

About This Team

The extremely talented Hyphen team came together through the love of this story, its characters, and having similar experiences in each of our lives. We come from different walks of life and have united to bring this powerful story to you and the world. We hope you can join our mission!

MEET THE TEAM:

Crew

DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER

MARIA SERVELLON

Maria Servellón is a multimedia artist, filmmaker, educator, and arts advocate from Boston, MA. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Japanese from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2012. For over 5 years, Maria has taught multimedia students and educators alike with an interactive hands-on, minds-on approach in the Boston, Cambridge, and Lynn public schools. Her focus is film and photography, frequently dabbling in digital art, drawing, installation, animation, painting, and design.

A recurring theme in her work is the exploration of relations between art, music, and dance in a synaesthetic-like approach. Along with art, she enjoys singing, dancing, acting, modeling, martial arts, and traveling. Maria is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film and Media Art at Emerson College with a focus in directing. Hyphen (working title) is for Maria's completion of an Emerson College 2018 MFA degree.mariaservellon.com

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

ABIJEET ACHAR

Born and raised in Durban South Africa, Abijeet Achar is a cinematographer and director of Indian and Mauritian descent. After major social class conflict due to the remnants of apartheid, at the age of twelve Abijeet and his family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. Two years later, they immigrated to Atlanta, GA. This is where Abijeet found his passion for directing and cinematography, and refined his skills through film theory and history at the University of Georgia, where in 2012 he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies. He applied his newfound theoretical knowledge of film through the medium of music videos and short films. In 2016, Abijeet completed his M.F.A. in Visual and Media Art with a focus in Cinematography at Emerson College in Boston, MA.

Abijeet's thesis film, “My Indian Rhapsody,” which he wrote and directed, had its world premiere at the 2017 Atlanta Film Festival and was a semifinalist in the 44th Student Academy Awards. In 2017, Abijeet and three partners founded Pineapple Cut Pictures, a production house based in Atlanta, GA, where he currently resides. In addition to managing Pineapple Cut Pictures, Abijeet is a national touring cinematographer for singer/songwriter, Corey Smith, and is an active freelancing Steadicam Operator. Through engaging personal stories and captivating composition in the ever-changing film industry landscape, Abijeet hopes to redefine what it means to be a Cinematographer.abijeetachar.com

PRODUCER, PRODUCTION MANAGER

TIM WOJCIK

Tim Wojcik is an artist, creative producer and educator whose works in soundscapes, media environments and found and written narratives. While his early work explored varied narrative forms, it has evolved to focus on abstractions of light and sound to explore notions of universality in the familiar and the mundane. Tim has worked as a teacher, digital media trainer, and youth media facilitator in Massachusetts, Texas, Germany, and China. He received a BA in English from Duke University and studied non-fiction at FAMU in Prague. He is currently a guest student at KHM in Cologne while preparing for his MFA thesis work in Media Art at Emerson College in Boston.vimeo.com/timwojcik

CO-PRODUCER

LISSA DEONARAIN

Lissa Deonarain is a multimedia artist, producer, and activist from Omaha, Nebraska. She is currently a senior at Emerson College working towards a B.A. in Visual and Media Arts Production with concentrations in Documentary and Producing as well as a minor in Global and Post-Colonial Studies. Her work primarily centers around personal, social and cultural themes including family, identity, culture, and post-colonialism. These themes are largely influenced by her experiences as a multiracial woman and by her Guyanese heritage. Lissa is currently working on a personal documentary about her family's emigration from Guyana that explores the concepts of home, identity, and memory.

Lissa also serves as the current President of Flawless Brown, an artist collective and sisterhood for women of color at Emerson that aims to create socially conscious art while providing hands-on experience in a variety of fields including theatre, film, writing/publishing, and marketing. She is also a classically trained pianist, amateur archivist and has a passion for foreign languages and traveling. flawlessbrown.com

Anjana Quintana-Gonzalez is a lovely, friendly, and happy girl who loves gymnastics, ballet, dancing, acting, and having fun with her friends. She was born in Germany, grew up in San Diego, CA and is now living in Boston, MA. During her time in CA, she worked for the Bensimon Modeling/Acting Agency where she participated in different projects including TV commercials, films, and magazines photo shoots. Although she is only 8 years old, she has had the opportunity to live in different countries with different cultures, religions, and languages, which has influenced her personality and has inspired her to dream of a better world.

MAIA (ACT 2 LEAD ACTRESS)

NAYELI CINTRON

At just 15, the bilingual Nayeli Cintron is a dedicated Puerto Rican artist with a longtime passion for dance, modeling, and the arts. In 2013 she was selected as the junior queen of the Massachusetts Puerto Rican Festival. In 2013, she participated in the Telemundo Boston Christmas ad.

At age 7, she began dancing at the Tony Williams Dance Center in Jamaica Plain. She was chosen to play the lead role in the Urban Nutcracker, a Boston Christmas classic with 17 years of success, and has participated for the past 8 years. She was part of the Fuerza Internacional group, performing different Latin American dances at various East Coast festivals. Nayeli has modeled for New York designer Wanda Beuchamp's Tea Collection during NY Fashion Week 2017, RI Summer Fashion Day, and Anna Maven Kids Boston Fashion Week. Nayeli actively participates in food drives and walks for Alzheimer's Awareness.

MIA (ACT 3 LEAD ACTRESS)

ROSANNA JIMENEZRosanna Jimenez is a first-generation Dominican-American from Massachusetts. She grew up with a love for films and books. Rosanna has a degree from Suffolk University and currently juggles a career as an IT research analyst along with pursuing acting projects that inspire her.

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